The Twitter Teaching Community is Stepping Up with Support
If you are not on Twitter now is a great time to start LURKING! Educators and EdTech companies are out in force with resources specifically focusing on how to make shifts in distance learning. You do not need a Twitter account to take advantage.
How to Lurk
The key to Twitter for teaching is to not follow Justin Bieber 🙂 You have to find educators if you want teaching tips from Twitter. The pattern is to type http://twitter.com slash the educators Twitter handle.
For example: My Twitter handle is @alicekeeler so the link http://twitter.com/alicekeeler will take you to my tweets.
Top Tips:
— Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) March 14, 2020
?Less is more. Focus on a small number of really essential things for students to do, not try to cover everything.
?PUT YOUR FACE IN IT! They will appreciate some short ?@Screencastify or Bitmoji throughout your digital materials
BE CONSISTENT
?Be available somehow
You do not need to follow a lot of people. If they are following educators and retweeting the good stuff then a great strategy is to follow a couple of educators who are good about retweeting. Then you don’t have to filter through so many tweets or things that are off topic.
A Few Educators Who Are Sharing
This is far from a comprehensive list. Less is more. Pick one or two who
?The Merrills are a husband and wife team who are both elementary teachers, author’s of The InterACTIVE Class and excited about sharing:
https://twitter.com/themerrillsedu
?Randall Sampson is the founder of #PersonalizedPD. He’s putting out tips, video support, and sharing:
https://twitter.com/RandallSampson
?Holly Clark is the co-author of Google Infused Classroom and Microsoft Infused Classroom. She is doing regular interviews and webinars with tips on remote learning:
https://twitter.com/HollyClarkEdu
?Andi McNair is an expert in genius hour and is creating resources and sharing other people’s resources:
https://twitter.com/mcnairan3
?Lauren Hawkins is a teacher on a roll sharing resources she finds on remote learning:
https://twitter.com/TheiTeamHawk
Hashtags
Hashtags are how Twitter organizes tweets. If you look up a hashtag you can find people talking about the topic even if you do not follow them. The default is to show you top tweets. Make sure you click on “Latest” to see what everyone is saying on the topic.
#remotelearning
Many teachers are using the hashtag #remotelearning to share their tips, template, ideas and moral support.
http://twitter.com/hashtag/remotelearning
Apps for distance learning inforgraphic. #edtech #edchat #education #distancelearning #edtechcoach pic.twitter.com/FzHvShBxPQ
— Stephen Mosley (@scullymulder01) March 10, 2020
#StayHomeEd
Another hashtag for tips on working from home as an educator is #StayHomeEd
https://twitter.com/hashtag/StayHomeEd
16 Free resources for Schools who are closing due to coronavirus #coronavirus #covid19 #StayHomeEdhttps://t.co/676vRFNMcK – Please share your resources to #StayHomeEd
— Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) March 15, 2020
#MTBOS
The #MTBOS is active all year with providing support for math teachers. This is where I regularly find people sharing “this math activity I did with my students was awesome.” Perfect, stealing that. Thank you.
http://twitter.com/hashtag/mtbos
I feel like this is a great time to remind people that the virtual manipulatives from @MLCmath are FREE & AWESOME. #MTBoS https://t.co/iVsNOfsiwU
— Chrissy Newell (@MrsNewell22) March 13, 2020
#homelearning
Another hashtag being used by educators is #homelearning
https://twitter.com/hashtag/homelearning
Created an editable Keynote for students to make their own #homelearning schedule with their family. Hopefully it empowers students to stay on track and take responsibility for their learning! Feel free to edit and use with your students! @DAAElementary https://t.co/IT6Kk2J6jy pic.twitter.com/xpEBhLBql9
— Kelsey Keilback (@kelsey_keilback) March 17, 2020
